The Annoyingly Unrevleaing Robin Fic
by Hopie Trisket
Summary: A new enemy from nowhere! Who is this Varell? And what exactly IS under Robin's mask?


**Behind the Mask **

Robin was walking down an empty corridor of Titan's Tower. The metal on his shoes make a soft _clunk… clunk…_ as he took his steps. Old thoughts were running through his head; old memories. Past experiences, past villains…… Slade. Despite everything he had seen, it was still hard to let go. He had to get stronger, faster, better… for everyone's sake. He had to be the leader, a stable pillar for the rest of the titans to look to. He had to train harder, he had to—

"Woah!" He felt a rush of adrenaline as his foot caught on the floor and he tripped; the ground rushing up at him.

He pushed himself up again, but his mask had fallen away, and was lying on the floor, mere inches from him.

"Robin?" A curious voice murmured as more metallic footsteps were heard.

Robin stifled a gasp and groped around with one hand until it landed on the mask. He quickly shoved it back on before standing and brushing himself off. "Cyborg. What are you doing here?"

"Uh… walking down the hallway?…" Cyborg gave him a look. "Are you okay, man? You look kinda… freaked out."

"I'm just tired, is all. In fact, I'm headed off right now. You should be sleeping soon, too." And with that, he turned on his heel and vanished through his door.

Cyborg arched an eyebrow.

The next afternoon, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy were sitting around leftover pizza in the main room of Titan's Tower. Raven sat, hovering feet in the air, facing the water-drenched window; her mouth continuously moving, silently forming the chant, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"

"I'm telling you guys, the mask _fell off_!" Cyborg was ranting to the other titans over pizza. "Like BOOM!"

"I do not understand. Robin's mask does not 'come off'… it is always there…" Starfire sounded befuddled.

Raven's voice broke in suddenly, her meditation disturbed. "I'm sure that if you just _asked_ Robin, he'd tell you."

"Asked me what?" Robin had just stepped into the room, a towel around his neck. He reached into the fridge for a cold drink.

Starfire let out a startled meep and Raven simply went back to the window and soft murmurs. Beast Boy and Cyborg looked at each other, silently telling the other to explain. Finally, Beast Boy spoke. "Well… we were just wondering… Do you like… _sleep_ with that mask on? I mean… come on, whatever's under there can't be _that_ freaky, right?"

There was a long pause. Robin's face looked like he couldn't decide what to say.

"It's just a mask. It doesn't mean anything, really. I guess it's just—"

He never got the chance to finish his sentence. Overhead, red lights started swirling madly and a siren blared warning. "The city's in danger! Titans, let's go!"

The entire team was suddenly on alert. Any previous thoughts had been driven from their minds. Starfire's eyes glowed bright green and around Raven's hands swirled a strange darkness. Robin grabbed a birdarang and some explosives.

It had gotten dark.

Lightening flashed over a soaking street, illuminating it from everywhere and nowhere. Silhouetted against the sky was a man dressed all in black. Looking closer, you could see that two darkly intelligent eyes peered out from a pale face that had been almost mangled to accommodate an overly large nose. He was bald on the top, but, starting from his temples, sheets of silver hair flowed down over his shoulders and down his back.

The light vanished and it was dark again. He was completely covered by a black cape that he had pulled around himself.

Suddenly the titans broke the silence, zooming up on him, before coming to a halting stop. Robin, who had been riding his prized motorcycle, tugged his helmet off and gave the stranger an appraising glare. Beast Boy reappeared as himself, instead of the large, charging rhino form he had recently become fond of. The glow around Starfire's hands stuttered to nothing at the apparent lack of danger. "…I do not understand. Where is the badness happening?"

"Good question." Muttered Robin, still warily watching the lone man in black. Despite the clothes looking slightly suspicious, there was no reason to think he had anything to do with it. But Robin had a gut feeling. And those were never wrong. He addressed the man. "Do you know? What's going on here?"

"The end… is nigh…" Came a croaking voice, like cracked parchment crumbling to pieces.

"What did you say?" Exclaimed Cyborg.

"The end… is NOW!" The last word was shouted and it echoed in five pairs of ears.

Everything happened at once. The man's cloak flew open, revealing his arms, which were surrounded with a darkness familiar to only one titan, who knew she only had a split second to stop him.

"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" Raven cried, shooting black magic in an attempt to counter the spell. The two beams collided, fighting each other for dominance. "Who are you?" There was a furious quiver in Raven's voice. "How do you know these spells?"

"I am Varell." Came the ghastly voice once again. A twinge of amusement bled through the cold words. "And you are Raven." He paused before calmly speaking again. "Thisoh Razoih Ackthaba."

Raven's eyes widened in total shock for a few seconds before Varell's new spell completely overwhelmed hers and flung her backwards against a wall. She crumpled onto the ground, unconscious. A few moments later, she vanished completely.

"RAVEN!" Beast Boy shouted at the top of his lungs. He rounded furiously on Varell. "What did you DO to her?"

"The end is now. You have been warned."

His voice gave Robin goose bumps. _It's like sandpaper grating against metal._ But his voice wasn't the only thing. He cast what could only be a frightened glance over to where Raven had fallen, and then disappeared, but he didn't have much time to be worried. His attention was called back suddenly.

Beast Boy had made a sort of strangled noise as Varell's form twisted convulsively until its shape was that of a large wolf, teeth bared and snarling.

" NO WAY DUDE! THAT'S MY POWER! HOW'D YOU DO THAT?" Beast Boy almost looked hurt at the fact that he wasn't original anymore.

"No time to worry about it!" Said Cyborg, "BB, look out!"

The wolf had indeed started after Beast Boy, who quickly morphed into a crow and flew up and out of reach.

The wolf changed into an eagle in pursuit.

Cyborg's arm had pulled away to reveal his blaster cannon and he took aim, but Robin's hand stopped him.

"Wait! You could hit Beast Boy. It's almost impossible to see out here in the rain." It was true. The three remaining titans stood stock-still for the next few seconds, waiting to see what would happen.

After a few moments, a dark mass came spiraling out of the sky and it hit the pavement hard. An unconscious green crow slid back into the shape of an unconscious green boy.

"Beast boy!" Starfire exclaimed and flew down to him, but before she could lay a hand on him, he vanished as Raven had. Silently, and without a trace.

"Ohhhh!" Starfire growled. "This Varell is very bad! I am angry!" Her hands glowed a violent viridian. "He will not take any more of my friends! He will"

Her ferocious torrent was cut short by a mirthless, empty laugh from very close behind her. She turned around only to see a very _human_ Varell extremely near to her. A gnarled, wrinkled hand protruding from his robes was surrounded by a flickering, sickly green aura. His mouth twisted up in what could've been a smile before he blasted her in the chest from only a few inches' distance. She was flung, like a plaything, down the street, making a gash in the asphalt, before coming to a wretched stop, her arms out at odd angles.

Then she, too, was gone.

"STARFIRE!" Robin screamed like he'd been the one shot. After a moment of shock, furious rage boiled up in him and he was reaching for something large and explosive, when Cyborg reached over and stopped him.

"Let me handle this, man."

"No way! He took Star!"

Cyborg gave him a long, searching look. "I know. Trust me, I know what I'm doing." His cannon at the ready, he looked around for Varell. And he wasn't disappointed.

Varell was standing on the opposite side of the street. Just standing.

"All right, freak man. This is IT! The end of the line! You've reached _Cyborg_ and this is where it STOPS!" A giant blue stream blasted out of his right arm and the entire building across the street exploded, leaving a giant crater. When the dust settled, Cyborg crossed the street to examine it. There was nothing there.

"Did it work?" Asked Robin.

"Can't tell." Cyborg replied. "There's nothing here at all, like he just—" He cut off as suddenly all of his blue circuitry faded into grey and he collapsed. A dark Varell stood over him, holding something that must've been a power cell. Cyborg was gone.

"Now it is finally you." Varell's voice cut what had become a deadly silence. "The one who could not be copied."

"Copied?" Robin asked into the rain. His thoughts went to Varell's ability to morph into animals and create, though they were weak, starbolts. "How did you 'copy' all of our powers? Where have you sent the others?"

"The others?… The others are safe for now… Don't worry, you will join them, too, powerless one."

"Powerless?…" Robin murmured. It was starting to make sense. Varell had been able to copy all of the powers of the other titans, but not Robin's. Because Robin's strength was discipline and training. Learning to fight took time and effort that Varell had not put in. The thought gave Robin a spark of hope.

"I may not have what my friends have, but I assure you, I'm _far_ from powerless!"

"We shall see." Droned Varell groggily. "We shall see what resides within you… Robin." Varell's hand started glowing a bright blue that could only have been Cyborg's blaster cannon.

Robin's eyes widened with shock and he took the blast full on, flying backwards against the wall. A few moments later he was struggling up again.

"You _will_ see… I am stronger than you might think."

Getting a running start, Robin leapt forward and planted his hands firmly on the ground before vaulting off of them and landing right in front of Varell.

But before Robin did anything, Varell's eyes closed and he slumped down to the ground in a seeming coma.

To Robin's deeper confusion, but happiness, the other titans reappeared where they had fallen, all perfectly well, but also looking confused. The rain had finally slowed to a trickle.

A deep, menacing voice echoed across the empty street.

"So. Varell was too weak to handle so much power. A failed experiment."

"Who are you?" Robin shouted at the sky, but got no response. Varell vanished quickly and the street was quiet.

Robin gave a soft sigh before turning to see that the other four titans were staring at him, completely entranced.

"Uh… guys? Are you okay?"

"Your mask…" he heard Raven breathe.

With a jolt he realized it must've come off during the fight. He hadn't noticed.

"DUDE THAT'S SO COOL!" Beast Boy was exclaiming as Robin found the mask and replaced it. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It's not important… not anymore. What's important now is that Varell wasn't acting alone."

The titans stopped goggling for a moment. Cyborg spoke.

"We got sent to some kooky lab or something. I was in a cage, I don't know about the rest of you."

"That is also what happened to me!" Nodded Starfire.

"Sounds… pretty much like my experience." Finished Raven.

Robin mounted his motorcycle again.

"Someone was controlling Varell. We need to find out how, but more importantly, why. Let's get back to the tower."


End file.
